Groundless-Beliefs

GroundlessBeliefsByA.E.ManderInfuturewearegoingtofollowthepractice—untilitbecomesahabit—ofclassifyingpropositionsaccordingtotheirgrounds.Ofeverystatementwecomeacross,weshallask:“Howdoweknowthat?Whatreasonhaveweforbelievingthat?Onwhat‘ground’isthatstatementbased?”Probablyweshallbeastonishedatthenumberofpropositionsmetwithineverydaylifewhichweshallfinditnecessarytoclassasgroundless.Theyrestuponmeretradition,oronsomebody’sbareassertionunsupportedbyeverashadowofproof…Itmaybeabeliefwhichweoriginallyacceptedasaresultofsimple“suggestion,”andwehavecontinuedtoholditeversince.Ithasnowbecomeoneofourregularhabitsofthought.Perhapssomebody-somewhere-sometimetoldusacertainthing,andquiteuncritically,weacceptedandbelievedit.Perhapsitwaswaybackinourearlychildhood—beforewehadevendevelopedthepowerofquestioninganythingthatmightbetoldtous.Manyofourstrongestconvictionswereestablishedthen;andnow,inadultlife,wefinditmostdifficulteventoquestiontheirtruth.Theyseemtous“obviously”true.ButifthestaunchestRomanCatholicandthestaunchestPresbyterianhadbeenexchangedwheninfants,andiftheyhadbeenbroughtupwithhomeandallotherinfluencesreversed,wecanhadverylittledoubtwhattheresultwouldhavebeen.Itisconsistentwithallourknowledgeofpsychologytoconcludethateachwouldhavegrownupholdingexactlytheoppositebeliefstothoseheholdsnow…andeachwouldthenhavefeltassureofthetruthofhisopinionashenowfeels—ofthetruthoftheoppositeopinion.Thesamethingistrue,ofcourse,ofmanybeliefsotherthanthoseofareligiousnature.Ifwehadgrownupinacommunitywherepolygamyorhead-hunting,orinfanticide,orgladiatorialfighting,ordueling,wasregardedasthenormalandnaturalthing—thenweshouldhavegrownuptoregarditas“obviously”naturalandperfectlymoralandproper.IfanEnglishbabyhadbeenadoptedandbroughtupinaGermanhome,andhadgrownupwithnoknowledgethathisparentswereEnglish,allthesentimentsandbeliefsofthatpersonwouldbe“German”andnot“English.”Manyofourbeliefs—manyofourmostdeeply-rootedandfundamentalconvictions—areheldsimplyasaresultofthefactthatwehappentohavebeen“broughtup”tothem.Ofcoursewedonotcease,whenweceasetobechildren,toadoptnewbeliefsonmeresuggestion.Wecontinuedoingit,moreorlessunconsciouslyallourlives;hence,totakeonlythemoststrikingexamples,theenormousinfluenceofnewspapersandtheeffectivenessofskilfuladvertising.Muchofwhatpassesassuchisnot,strictly,thinkingatall.Itisthemere“parroting”ofideaspickedupbychanceandadoptedasourownwithoutquestion.Mostpeople,mostofthetime,aremereparrots.Butasweleavechildhood,wetendtoacceptonlysuchnewideasasfitinwiththeideaswealreadyhold;andallconflictingideasseemtous“obviously”absurd.Propositionsthatareacceptedsimplybecause“everybodysaysso,”mustbeclassedunderthesameheading.Thedogmamaynotbethatofanyparticularindividual:itmaybeadogmaticstatementwhichhasbeenpassedfromonepersontoanother,fromgenerationtogeneration,perhapsforhundreds—perhapsforthousands—ofyears.Itmaybepartofthetraditionbeliefofthepeopleortherace.Inthatcase,itispartofoursocialinheritancefromsomeperiodinthepast.Butweshouldfullyfacethefactthatbeliefswhicharemerelyinheritedfromthepastmusthaveoriginatedatatimewhenmenknewmuchlessthantheyknowtoday.Sothefactthatabeliefis“old”isnoargumentinitsfavour.Weneedespeciallytobeonourguardwhenwecomeacrosspropositionswhichseemtobe“obviously”true.Whenwefindourselvesentertaininganopinionaboutwhichthereisafeelingthateventoenquireintoitwouldbeabsurd,unnecessary,undesirable,orwicked—wemayknowthatthatopinionisanon-rationalone.Whenwearetemptedtosaythatanygeneraltruthisso“obvious”thatitwouldbeabsurdeventoquestionit,weshouldrememberthatthewholehistoryofthedevelopmentofhumanthoughthasbeenfullofcasesofsuch“obvioustruths”breakingdownwhenexaminedinthelightofincreasingknowledgeandreason.Forinstance,foragesnothingcouldhaveseemedmoreobvious,moreutterlybeyondquestionthatthepropositionthatslaverywasnatural,reasonable,necessary,andright.Somekindsofmenwere“obviously”“slavesbynature.”Todoubtitwasimpossible.Againformorethantwothousandyears,itwas“impossibletoconceive”theplanetsasmovinginpathsotherthancircles.Thecirclewas“obviously”theperfectfigure;andsoitwas“natural”and“inevitable”tosupposethattheplanetsmovedincircles.Theage-longstruggleofthegreatestintellectsintheworldtoshakeoffthatassumptionisoneofthemarvelsofhistory.Itwasformerly“obvious”thattheheart—andnotthebrain—wastheorganofconsciousness.Tomostpeopletodayitseemsequally“obvious”thatwethinkwithourbrains.Manymodernpersonsfinditverydifficulttocreditthefactthatmencanevenhavesupposedotherwise.Yet—theydid.Thattheearthmustbeflat,formerlyseemedsoobviousandself-evidentthattheverysuggestionofanyotherpossibilitywouldhavebeen—andwas—regardedasajoke.Itwasfortwothousandyears“takenforgranted”as“obvious”thataheavyweightmustfallfasterthanalightone.Anassumedordogmaticpropositionwhichhadbeenuniversallyacceptedas“obvious;”andwhich,whenchallenged,wassupportedbyreferencetoadogmaofAristotle.UntilGalileoactuallydemonstratedthecontrary,nothingcouldhaveseemedmorebeyondpossibilityordoubt.Propositionswhichareacceptedblindly,withoutquestiononthegroundsofmereassumptionordogma,needtobefra